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Well, go ahead and turn in your 
Bibles. 

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We will not be in Genesis. 
We will be in Mark chapter 10. 

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And what we're going to do, if 
you did not get a bulletin, but 

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you would like one, would you 
please raise your hand if you 

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would like the bulletin and the 
sermon note sheet. 

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Mr. Zinke is handing those out. 
So yeah, we'll be in Mark 

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chapter 10 next week. 
We will be back in Genesis, 

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Genesis for two more weeks. 
Then we'll take a break from 

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Genesis for the summer. 
Now ours is a proud and 

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egotistical culture, people 
pushing and promoting themselves

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in ways that would have been 
completely unacceptable 20 years

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ago. 
A new species of humanity has 

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emerged in the influencer 
promotion of self, self esteem, 

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self fulfillment, self glory. 
It has all become a major 

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industry self. 
This person does everything they

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can to market themselves, to 
gain notoriety, likes and 

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clicks. 
And also they can be famous and 

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make a lot of money. 
Usually they don't make a lot of

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money, most don't, but some do, 
some do. 

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Now seldom will you find an 
influencer who uses their 

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position and status for the 
purposes and good of others. 

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Most often pride and entitlement
are on full display with the 

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influencer. 
As we approach our text this 

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morning, let me set the scene 
for us. 

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This is the lead up to Palm 
Sunday in Jesus triumphal entry 

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into Jerusalem. 
Jesus and a whole crowd of 

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people are literally walking up 
to Jerusalem preparing for the 

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triumphal entry. 
Jesus and is talking with with 

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his disciples and he knew what 
lay ahead of them. 

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And he said the Son of Man will 
be delivered over to the chief 

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priests and the scribes and they
will condemn him to death and 

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deliver him over to the 
Gentiles. 

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They will mock him and spit on 
him and flog him and kill him. 

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And after three days he will 
rise. 

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So this was now the the third 
time Jesus had told his 

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followers what was going to 
happen. 

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And even still, they I don't 
think they got it. 

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Their expectation was that Jesus
was about to publicly set up the

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messianic Kingdom. 
Now, honestly, I think the 

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response of these two, James and
John and their mother, as we 

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learn in Matthew's accounts, was
pretty rude. 

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They forgot to read the room. 
Jesus had just said what was 

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going to happen, that he was 
going to be crucified, that he 

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was going to die. 
And there's like, oh, wait, you 

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just said you were going to die.
That's not what we were 

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planning. 
Does does that really have to 

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happen right now? 
We have so much going well for 

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us right now. 
We have this momentum. 

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Maybe we can just take over 
Jerusalem and and sit next to 

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you on your throne. 
So that's what's immediately 

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preceding this morning's text. 
If you're able, would you stand 

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as we read from Mark 10, verses 
35 through 45? 

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And James and John, the sons of 
Zebedee, came up to him and said

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to him, Teacher, we want you to 
do for us whatever we ask of 

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you. 
And he said to them, What do you

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want me to do for you? 
When they said to him, Grant us 

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to sit one at your right hand 
and one at your left in your 

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glory. 
Jesus said to them, you do not 

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know what you are asking. 
Are you able to drink the cup 

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that I drink, or to be baptized 
with the baptism with which I am

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baptized? 
And they said to him, We are 

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able. 
And Jesus said to them, The cup 

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that I drink you will drink, and
with the baptism with which I am

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baptized, you will be baptized. 
But to sit at my right hand or 

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at my left hand. 
Hand is not mine to grant, but 

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As for those for whom it has 
been prepared. 

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And when the 10 heard it, they 
began to be indignant at James 

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and John. 
And Jesus called them to him and

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said to them, You not, you know 
that those who are considered 

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rulers of the Gentiles Lord over
them, and they're great ones, 

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Exercise authority over them. 
But it shall not be so among 

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you. 
But whoever would be great among

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you must be your servant, and 
whoever would be first among you

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must be slave of all. 
For even the Son of Man came not

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to be served, but to serve, and 
to give his life as a ransom for

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many. 
You may be seated here. 

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Jesus turned this absurd 
question into a teaching moment.

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Now this reminds me that 
discipleship isn't always a 

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formal process. 
We meet from this time to this 

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time, and we talk about this 
topic in the Bible. 

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Sure, that can be part of 
discipleship, but often 

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discipleship occurs in the 
everyday moments. 

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When we were raising our kids, 
we were always looking for 

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opportunities to speak into 
their lives and provide wisdom 

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for situations or simply ask 
questions. 

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Discipleship happened on the 
drive to school or dance or 

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football or CrossFit. 
It it happened spontaneously and

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in the spur of the moment and 
and constantly happened around 

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the dinner table. 
We're always being attentive to 

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the teaching opportunities that 
life presented to us. 

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Jesus could have just said he 
didn't have the purview to judge

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who sits on his right hand or 
his left. 

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Instead, he chose to teach the 
disciples a lesson here. 

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First let's look at the 
disciples character. 

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I think it's safe to say these 
men were a bit big for their 

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britches, as they say. 
Jesus told them you don't really

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know what you're asking. 
And the response was, yeah, 

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yeah, we can drink the cup that 
that you're about to drink. 

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We can handle everything that 
comes our way. 

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And in a sense, Jesus affirmed 
them. 

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Well, you'll experience 
unnatural deaths, but I don't 

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determine who sits at my right 
hand and left hand. 

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James was the first apostle to 
be martyred and and John would 

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spend many years exiled on the 
island of Patmos. 

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So both of them experienced 
persecution. 

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But the disciples pride was on 
full display here. 

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Their request was full of pride.
Their request was full of pride.

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They didn't have the right view 
of themselves and and thought 

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more highly of their own 
character and value than was 

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realistic. 
And they should have thought 

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with eyes set on themselves and 
their own goals, they they asked

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for positions of power and 
authority. 

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All the others got angry at 
James and John for this. 

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Was it because they thought it 
was rude? 

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No, actually it was because 
their hearts were filled with 

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the same selfish ambition and 
they were angry because they had

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the same thoughts and feelings 
and they wanted those positions 

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of authority for themselves. 
Then in verse 42, Jesus teaches 

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the disciples about worldly 
greatness. 

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Jesus called them to him and 
said to them, You know that 

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those who are considered rulers 
as the Gentiles Lord it over 

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them and their great ones 
exercise authority over them. 

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Jesus pointed out that that the 
Gentiles, that is, those who 

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aren't God's people, don't act 
in a godly manner. 

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Their rulers act in a 
domineering and oppressive way, 

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lording their position and 
status over those who are under 

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them in an exploitative manner. 
This is how the world works. 

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But those who belong to God and 
follow Jesus are to act in a 

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different manner. 
In Ephesians 6, Paul tells 

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masters to treat their bond 
servants well and to not 

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threaten them. 
Now. 

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Jesus was constantly subverting 
the world's standards, flipping 

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expectations. 
If the world said right, he said

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left. 
If they said up, then he said 

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down. 
Kingdom living is a 

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countercultural movement in Acts
in response to situations in a 

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manner that is drastically 
different than worldly 

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expectations. 
Now let's look at what it means 

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to live out those 
countercultural values and real 

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Kingdom greatness. 
Verse 3. 

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But it shall not be so among 
you. 

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But whoever would be great among
you must be your servants, and 

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whoever would be first among you
must be slave of all. 

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So don't act the same way the 
gentiles in the world act. 

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That's not to be the way of 
Christ's followers. 

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Greatness isn't found in power 
and authority. 

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Greatness isn't found in power 
and authority. 

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Jesus turned the world's 
greatness upside down. 

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The self glorifying, 
self-serving, self promoting 

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ways of the world are the 
antithesis of spiritual 

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greatness. 
These ways aren't fit for Christ

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followers. 
The world seeks after power and 

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authority because they don't 
know any better. 

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But that's not what Jesus taught
James and John here. 

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Now, positions of authority 
aren't intrinsically bad. 

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Someone has to be at the top in 
a position of authority. 

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But it's the how and why that 
matter. 

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How did you get to the position?
Was it honestly and through hard

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work and humility, or was it 
through deceit and manipulation,

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tearing everyone down on your 
way to the top? 

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Why did you aspire to the 
position? 

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Did you aspire to the position 
for selfish motives and status? 

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Did you see it as a way to, or 
did you see it as a way to serve

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others and be helpful? 
Wrong motives, bad motives say a

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lot about a person's character. 
In First Timothy 3, Paul tells 

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us if anyone aspires to the 
office of overseer, he desires a

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noble task. 
That means it's good to be the 

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pastor of a church, to be in a 
position of authority. 

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And Peter gives us some clarity 
on this topic in First Peter 5 

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when he addresses the pastor's 
motives. 

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Shepherding a church isn't to be
done for shameful, selfish gain 

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or a desire to control and 
domineer others. 

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Jesus taught them that greatness
isn't found in power and 

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authority. 
It's OK to be in a position of 

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authority. 
But He didn't just leave it at 

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that. 
He instructed them on how to be 

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great. 
It's important to say that this 

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greatness isn't according to the
world standards. 

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This is Kingdom greatness. 
If we come to the conversation 

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with the world's definition of 
greatness, then we'll completely

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miss the point here. 
Now, according to God's 

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standards, greatness is found in
serving. 

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Greatness is found in serving. 
But whoever would be great among

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you must be your servants, and 
whoever would be first among you

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must be slave of all. 
Here Jesus redefined greatness. 

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This is greatness according to 
God's standard. 

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In order to be great in God's 
upside down Kingdom, you need to

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be a servant. 
James and John wanted positions 

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of preeminence and power in 
God's Kingdom, the same type we 

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read about in verse 44. 
Whoever would be first among 

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you, that was James and John. 
Now here Jesus was promoting 

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something of a much different 
flavor and and quality. 

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Greatness that's pleasing to God
and which is characterized by 

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humility and self sacrifice 
rather than pride and 

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self-serving. 
The world seeks greatness by 

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pleasing others and having them 
serve you in and do your 

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bidding. 
They do whatever you want. 

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That's the world's greatness. 
However, greatness that's 

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pleasing to God is found in 
doing His will and serving 

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others in His name. 
The one who's truly great in 

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God's eyes is the one who is the
willing servant. 

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00:14:06,560 --> 00:14:11,720
You might ask, but isn't it 
wrong for someone to say I want 

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to serve so I can be the 
greatest in the Kingdom? 

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Well, if your motive is actually
simply to be better than 

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everyone else and get ahead of 
them, then you've kind of missed

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the point here. 
One could devolve into a martyr 

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complex if you're serving out of
the wrong motive. 

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Look at what I did here. 
Look at how busy I am for God. 

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Look at all the ways I serve 
him. 

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Serving is important, but when 
you lose track of God, then 

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you're simply doing stuff and 
not actually worshipping God in 

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your serving. 
Now in this verse, the word 

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servant is differentiated from 
the word slave. 

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The word servant is actually the
word diaconos, from which we get

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our word Deacon. 
Originally this word didn't have

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a patently religious or 
spiritual connotation to it is 

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simply referred to someone who 
did menial labor like house 

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cleaning or serving tables. 
It wasn't a term of dishonor, 

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but it was used to describe the 
lowest level of hired help. 

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It didn't take much to be a 
diaconos. 

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You needed no special training 
or or skill for the position. 

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You could be hired and generally
could learn what you needed to 

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learn on the job. 
That was the diaconos. 

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The position of the slave which 
Jesus had called these men to 

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was even lower than the 
diaconos. 

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The servant, you see, was his 
own person. 

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He he didn't own much he but he 
was free to work where he 

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wanted. 
This was the position that many 

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people occupied when they needed
to pay off the debts. 

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They could be employed as a 
servant and work off the debt 

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they'd accumulated. 
The slave, however, is 

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different. 
The slave doesn't have the same 

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freedom. 
The slave actually belonged to 

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the master and can only go where
where the master wanted him to 

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go, and could only do what the 
master wanted him to do. 

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The slave was the personal 
property of someone else. 

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The master, now slave is Paul's 
common description of himself. 

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He frequently calls himself a 
slave of Christ. 

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He leads with this point even 
before identifying himself as an

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apostle. 
He calls himself a slave of 

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Christ. 
He acknowledged that his body 

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and life weren't his own. 
They belong to the one who 

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bought them. 
Jesus bought Paul with his 

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blood. 
So greatness isn't found in 

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power and authority. 
Greatness is found in serving. 

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And greatness comes from 
humility. 

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Greatness comes from humility. 
Paul lived this out, and he was 

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dedicated to godly greatness. 
He didn't want the accolades for

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himself, but rather for Christ, 
the one who knows our motives. 

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In First Corinthians 4-5, Paul 
says, Therefore do not pronounce

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judgment before the time, before
the Lord comes, who will bring 

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to light the things now hidden 
in darkness, and who will 

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disclose the purposes of the 
heart. 

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Then each one will receive his 
commendation, Not condemnation 

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commendation. 
That's a good thing from God on 

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the day of judgment. 
For those who followed after 

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God, our accolades and glory 
will come from Him. 

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The good things we've done that 
we didn't advertise to others, 

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the selfless serving, the purity
of our motives will all be 

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demonstrated on that day. 
When that happens we'll receive 

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hopefully commendation for being
faithful and following Jesus 

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example. 
Only God knows the motives and 

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true intentions of our hearts. 
Now. 

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Humility in serving is is going 
to the hard, difficult, lonely 

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places no one wants to go, doing
the things that no one wants to 

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do, making ourselves 
uncomfortable, perhaps risking 

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persecution and and being 
ostracized, all for the sake of 

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God's glory and greatness. 
Paul knew life was short and the

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eternity was long, so he was 
willing to spend and be spent 

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for God's glory. 
He was willing to risk it all 

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and did so without succumbing to
self pity or a what was me type 

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of attitude. 
His humility allowed him to 

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endure persecution and trial 
after trial after trial without 

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succumbing to a desire for 
fairness or entitlements. 

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I've experienced all this. 
Surely I'm owed something else. 

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00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:42,160
His perspective instead was 
though his outer self, that is, 

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his body, was wasting away. 
There are trials and struggles 

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in life that take a toll on 
someone. 

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00:19:49,600 --> 00:19:55,920
He was being renewed each day 
and the struggles were just 

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00:19:56,120 --> 00:20:00,040
light, momentary afflictions 
when compared to the joy of an 

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00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:06,200
eternity in glory. 
Now, it's important for us to 

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acknowledge a key point here. 
Jesus didn't call these men to 

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something that He wasn't willing
to do Himself. 

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No, He called them to follow his
own example of greatness. 

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00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,840
Now granted we can't literally 
do all the things that Jesus 

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did, but he called them to 
follow his example. 

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00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:31,880
Verse 45 says even the Son of 
man came not to be served but to

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00:20:32,040 --> 00:20:36,280
served. 
The phrase son of man is used 82

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00:20:36,280 --> 00:20:40,640
times in the New Testament and 
is Jesus favor and most used 

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00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:45,280
title to refer to himself. 
When he used it Jesus was 

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00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,040
appealing to his humanity. 
The phrase son of denotes a 

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00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:53,880
certain quality, sameness to 
that thing which it is named 

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00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,040
after. 
That means when he used the 

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phrase son of man he was calling
himself human. 

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00:21:02,240 --> 00:21:06,160
In spite of being the son of 
God, Jesus clothed himself in 

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00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:09,600
humanity and became the son of 
man. 

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00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:15,680
That means Jesus purpose was 
serving. 

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00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,440
His purpose was serving. 
The whole point of him coming 

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00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:26,680
into the world was to serve. 
Philippians 2 tells us Jesus, 

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00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:33,000
who was in the very nature God, 
God himself, didn't hold to his 

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00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:37,440
rights as God, as the Lord of 
all, the Creator of everything. 

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00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:40,800
He had the right to be served by
others and to hold on to his 

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00:21:40,800 --> 00:21:42,040
rights. 
He had that right. 

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00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:51,720
Instead, Jesus chose to humble 
himself and take the form of a 

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00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:56,160
slave. 
So He is the supreme example of 

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00:21:56,360 --> 00:22:00,880
humility and servanthood as He 
came into this world to serve by

307
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:06,520
clothing himself with humanity. 
He went to the cross, and He 

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00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:12,720
bore our sin on Himself. 
He chose to give up His life 

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00:22:12,720 --> 00:22:17,960
because He thought higher of you
and I than He did His own 

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00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:23,200
rights. 
Verse 45 continues. 

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00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,880
Even the Son of Man came not to 
be served, but to serve and to 

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00:22:27,880 --> 00:22:30,640
give His life as a ransom for 
many. 

313
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:36,200
So what is a ransom? 
This ransom? 

314
00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:42,160
Here Jesus paid the price the 
Father's justice required. 

315
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,640
Simply put, Jesus paid the price
that the Father's justice 

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00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,880
required. 
This verse is the first explicit

317
00:22:50,880 --> 00:22:55,040
New Testament teaching about the
Messiah's work of redemption. 

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00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:00,400
A ransom is a payment to affect 
the release of slaves or 

319
00:23:00,600 --> 00:23:07,080
captives from bondage. 
Now scholars have vigorously 

320
00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:11,320
debated what this ransom is and 
and who it was paid to. 

321
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:16,760
Was the ransom paid to Satan or 
was the ransom paid to God the 

322
00:23:16,760 --> 00:23:20,760
Father? 
Well, Jesus didn't owe Satan 

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00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:24,560
anything. 
He didn't pay a ransom to Satan.

324
00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:27,520
The ransom was paid to God the 
Father. 

325
00:23:27,520 --> 00:23:30,880
Because of His justice, God is 
just. 

326
00:23:31,760 --> 00:23:35,040
God's justice means that our sin
has to be punished. 

327
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,360
We stand condemned under the law
of sin and death. 

328
00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:42,800
Jesus was the only one who 
qualified to pay the price for 

329
00:23:42,800 --> 00:23:48,960
our sin. 
He was human, but as God, he 

330
00:23:48,960 --> 00:23:55,400
could not and did not sin, and 
that qualified him to pay the 

331
00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:58,760
ransom. 
The ransom price that we sinners

332
00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:06,400
are incapable of pain. 
Paul tells us those who are in 

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00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:09,400
Christ Jesus are no longer 
condemned. 

334
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,360
We've been set free from the law
of sin and death. 

335
00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,720
Jesus purchased our freedom from
sin by coming in the likeness of

336
00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,000
sinful flesh and being condemned
for us. 

337
00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:27,400
This fulfilled God's righteous 
requirement and it brought us 

338
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:34,480
back from our enslavement to sin
as the ransom payment. 

339
00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,520
Jesus vicariously suffered for 
the sins of humanity. 

340
00:24:39,720 --> 00:24:44,080
He literally gave His life as 
payment for ours. 

341
00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:51,560
Also, we could be free. 
This new freedom we have in 

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00:24:51,560 --> 00:24:54,920
Christ means we can follow His 
example. 

343
00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,600
We can be servants through the 
Holy Spirit's empowering. 

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00:25:00,600 --> 00:25:06,920
We can think more highly of 
others than we do ourselves. 

345
00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,440
We can voluntarily serve their 
interests and not our own 

346
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,080
selfish desires. 
We can embrace true greatness by

347
00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:20,560
serving rather than the world's 
form of false greatness. 

348
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:28,360
William Barclay had this to say 
when comparing the world's gauge

349
00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:30,480
versus God's standard for 
greatness. 

350
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,720
The world may assess a man's 
greatness by the number of 

351
00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:39,040
people whom he controls and who 
are at his beckon call, or by 

352
00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:44,320
his intellectual standing in his
academic eminence, or the number

353
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:47,240
of committees of which he is a 
member, or by the size of his 

354
00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:50,880
bank balance and the material 
possessions which he has 

355
00:25:50,880 --> 00:25:55,240
amassed. 
But in the assessment of Jesus 

356
00:25:55,240 --> 00:26:00,760
Christ these things are 
irrelevance. 

357
00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:10,000
Only that which is spent on God,
following him and serving Him, 

358
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:18,240
is of any value. 
By living the upside down 

359
00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:23,920
Kingdom, we aim to someday hear 
the words well done, good and 

360
00:26:23,920 --> 00:26:27,080
faithful servants. 
You've been faithful over a 

361
00:26:27,080 --> 00:26:30,800
little. 
I will set you over much. 

362
00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:34,040
Enter into the joy of your 
master. 

363
00:26:35,360 --> 00:26:37,000
Let's bow our heads and close 
our eyes. 

364
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:45,480
Father God, we thank you for 
this opportunity this morning to

365
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:50,760
look into your word that that 
teaches us how to live here on 

366
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,320
this Serve Sunday as we prepare 
to go out. 

367
00:26:54,640 --> 00:26:58,360
We could easily just go out into
the community and, and do these 

368
00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:03,720
acts of service and not think 
anything else of it. 

369
00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:10,000
But the reason we do it, the 
reason we go out in the 

370
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:15,600
community and serve is because 
we are following your example 

371
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:22,920
because you called us to serve. 
You came into this world to 

372
00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:26,760
serve. 
You had the right to be served. 

373
00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:34,120
But that's not what you claimed.
So we follow your example, 

374
00:27:34,200 --> 00:27:41,000
Jesus, and we serve you. 
We serve you here in the church.

375
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,840
We serve you out wherever we go.
And it's our joy to do so out of

376
00:27:46,840 --> 00:27:50,920
grateful hearts for what you 
have done in our lives. 

377
00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:54,880
It's in Jesus name we pray, 
Amen.